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United States of America
The United States of America (also known as the United States, the U.S., the USA, the States, and America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The nation was founded by thirteen colonies of Britain located along the Atlantic seaboard. On July 4, 1776, they issued the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed their independence from Great Britain and their formation of a cooperative union. The rebellious states defeated Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, the first successful colonial war of independence. A federal convention adopted the current United States Constitution on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic with a strong central government. The Bill of Rights, comprising ten constitutional amendments guaranteeing many fundamental civil rights and freedoms, was ratified in 1791. In the 19th century, the United States acquired land from France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Russia, and annexed the Republic of Texas and the Republic of Hawaii. Disputes between the agrarian South and industrial North over states' rights and the expansion of the institution of slavery provoked the American Civil War of the 1860s. The North's victory prevented a permanent split of the country and led to the end of legal slavery in the United States. By the 1870s, the national economy was the world's largest. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a military power. In 1945, the United States emerged from World War II as the first country with nuclear weapons, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and a founding member of NATO. The end of the Cold War left the United States as the sole superpower. United States in A World of Difference The United States was one of two countries to send a manned ship to the planet Minerva. The other was its rival, the Soviet Union. Following the death of Frank Marquard, the US reluctantly supported the Omalo in the Skarmer-Omalo War. The Omalo emerged victorious, and the US developed very warm relations with Reatur, who suddenly found himself an extremely powerful domain-master. United States in Crosstime Traffic Crosstime Traffic maintained a base of operations in the United States. The company was aware of several alternates with differing versions of the U.S. There were several where the Confederate States had won the American Civil War. There were a few were the United States had been conquered by the Axis. There was at least one where the United States had become a dictatorship. United States in Curious Notions In the alternate designated by Crosstime Traffic as "3477", the United States remained neutral during World War I, and watched helplessly as Germany subdued Europe, solidifying its rule by the late 1930s. In 1956, Germany attacked and defeated the United States with atomic bombs. The United States remained under German rule for the next 150 years. United States in The Disunited States of America In one alternate visited by Crosstime Traffic, the United States failed when a conflict at the Constitutional Convention over the nature of representation could not be resolved or compromised. The Articles of Confederation were allowed to stand, and eventually all of the states became independent countries. United States in The Gladiator In one alternate the United States backed down during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, allowing the Soviet Union to maintain missiles in Cuba. This decision signaled to the world that the United States was not as ardent about fighting the Cold War as it claimed. In 1968, the U.S. withdrew troops from the Vietnam War. In response, European communists and socialists established popular fronts, which gradually pushed European governments away from the US and towards the Soviet Union. By the 1970s, most of Europe was under communist rule. The United States held out on its own until the end of the 20th century, when it too fell to communist rule. By the late 21st century, the United States was seen as harmless, and was completely obedient to the USSR. Americans were usually portrayed as villains in the popular culture of the world, often acting as spies who sought to bring back capitalism or Nazism or both. United States in The Valley-Westside War Following its devastating nuclear war with the Soviet Union in 1967, the territory of the United States was split up into countless mini-states and chaotic lawless areas. Just in the former city of Los Angeles there were several such states, jealous of their full sovereignty and occasionally going to war with each other. In most ways, people felt loyalty to their own state and regarded the inhabitants of other states carved from former US territory as "foreigners" and often as outright enemies. Still, many of these states continued celebrating the Fourth of July, expressing a vestigial feeling of being "Americans" and a remaining hostility towards the Russians - though most people had no real idea of where Russia was or what "Communism" was. There was also a hope that sooner or later the whole territory of the United States would be reunited, though nobody could guess when and how that would be effected. People in The Valley expressed the hope that one day a descendant of King Zev might achieve this task - but they had no real concept of how big the United States had been, having only a vague idea even about distant parts of what had been the State of California. United States in Days of Infamy The United States had sought to remain neutral in the conflict that was quickly evolving into World War II. That ended in 1941, when, in response to Japan's aggression in China, the United States stopped selling oil and steel to Japan. Japan saw this as an act of aggression, as without these resources Japan's military machine would grind to a halt. In March, 1941, the Japanese government resolved to go to war with the United States. The first blow would be an attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, on the U.S. territory of Hawaii. However, at the insistence of Commander Minoru Genda and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, that plan became an invasion of Hawaii. The invasion began on December 7, 1941. U.S. forces, believing such an attack impossible while also presuming their inherent superiority, were surprised by the efficiency and skill Japanese forces demonstrated. The Japanese quickly gained dominance of the air and the sea, and U.S. ground forces were overwhelmed by the tenacity of the Japanese army. By February, 1942, U.S. forces surrendered. For the remainder of 1942, U.S. policy was directed to regaining Hawaii, while also at war with Japan's ally, Germany. President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to pursue a "Germany first" policy in the war, but the loss of Hawaii, followed by Japan's air raid on San Francisco, forced the U.S. to focus its attention on the Pacific. The first response from the U.S. came in March, 1942, when Jimmy Doolittle led an air-raid on Oahu. In retaliation, Japanese bombers raided San Francisco, an act that futher humiliated the U.S. In June, 1942, the United States sent a fleet of three aircraft carriers and assorted troopships and destroyers to retake the islands. The Japanese navy met the Americans, sinking two of the carriers (the Saratoga and the Yorktown) and forcing a retreat. Embarassed, the United States continued its production of aircraft carriers. It was able to hurt Japan's supply lines via submarines and harrassed the islands with bombing raides. In the wake of the failed invasion, the U.S. concentrated on a realistic plan for invading Hawaii, assembling an overwhelming force. In 1943, the United States returned, with a massive fleet, comprised of some 7 aircraft carriers, 5 light carriers, close to a dozen escort carriers, several destroyers, and troop carriers. This invasion proved to be the end of Japanese rule in Hawaii, as the Japanese naval contingent was destroyed, and the Japanese supplyline, already taxed, was broken completely. American forces landed at Oahu, and after a period of bitter fighting, were able to subdue Japan's ground forces. The United States turned its attention to Midway, which was still in Japanese control. United States in "Elder Skelter" The United States was in the throws of a generational crisis as Boomers retained the reigns of government in the face of Generation Xers and Wires. The Twenty-Eighth Amendment to the Constitution had been passed, which called for a balanced budget and restrained entitlement programs. When Quebec invaded the Maritimes, the Maritimes called on the US to arbitrate a cease-fire and send peace-keepers. In a cabinet meeting, the president reazlied that the Twenty-Eighth Amendment limited her use of peace-keepers. She was also confronted by the generational anxiety of her younger cabinet members. The situation was made more difficult by the possibility that Quebec might next turn its attention to Maine if it wasn't stopped in the Maritimes. United States in "Getting Real" Early in the 21st century China refused to continue to lend to The United States causing a severe economic downturn. The U.S. reacted poorly causing its problems to escalate so that by 2117 it was considered by the world an "economic basket case". During this period, the U.S. government and its citizens refused to recognize their changed status and continued to act as though it were the premier superpower leading to further declines. China used this to its advantage and gained the U.S.'s former status. The U.S. also reacted militarily but had lost ground technologically as well so that its attacks were defeated. The resulting indemnities and loss of territory continued its decline. United States in In the Presence of Mine Enemies The United States remained neutral during the Second World War, watching as country after country fell in Europe and in Asia. After the war, the United States found itself in a growing cold war with the victorious Axis, particularly the Greater German Reich and the Empire of Japan, climaxing with the Third World War in the late 1960s. Germany was the first country to develop nuclear weapons, destroying Washington, DC and Philadelphia during the fighting. While the U.S. was able to counter-attack German soil, it was subdued by its enemies. During the war, America lost a third of its population. After the war ended, the Reich genocided the Jewish and Negro populations in the United States with large massacres taking place in New York City and Los Angeles. Segments of the white American population assisted in these massacres. With Washington, DC reduced to a nuclear wasteland, the American capital was moved to Omaha in the Mid West where a pro-Nazi American administration was established. The US paid an annual tribute, which became an important source of income for the Reich's economy. When the United States was either unable to pay this tribute or was late doing, the Wehrmacht, which maintained bases in New York, Chicago, St. Louis and Omaha itself, used terror tactics to bring the U.S. in line. The American economy underwent hyperinflation following the war with the US Dollar fallen from its place as a major world currency. In 2010, as part of the reforms promised by the fourth Führer Heinz Buckliger, Germany reduced the annual assessment by 13% (allowing the American economy to flow easier) and sent a division of occupation troops in the US back to the Reich (allowing the Americans to do more as they pleased with a lesser chance of being bullied and harassed by the occupation troops). Despite this, some Oberkommando der Wehrmacht officials like Heinrich Gimpel and Willi Dorsch assumed that the Americans would always try to find ways out of paying the annual tribute. In 2011, the U.S. effectively defaulted. However, the Reich did not respond militarily as it had in the past. Nonetheless, the Wehrmacht was keen to keep the U.S. under heel, knowing full well that the U.S. could make a formidable opponent if it regained its freedom. United States in "Joe Steele" The United States history of representative government came to an end upon the 1932 election of California congressman Joe Steele to the presidency, although it was years before anyone appreciated this. Steele quickly assumed greater power for the executive, colluding with J. Edgar Hoover to break the Supreme Court, purge the military, and keep the American people in a state of terror. Although Steele guided the country through World War II and the Japanese War, his unprecedented 6 elections and assumption of absolute power broke the institutions of democracy. Upon Steele's death, Hoover assumed the presidency, and began a reign even more tyrannical than Steele's. United States in "Les Mortes d'Arthur" The United States suffered a major disaster from which it had not recovered by the end of the twenty-second Century. This had left the country poor and its cities in ruins. A major export was Coca-Cola after the original formula was rediscovered in the ruins of Atlanta. The US managed to be able to afford to send a team of one man and one woman to Mimas, a moon of Saturn, for the sixty-sixth Winter Olympic Games for the first time in four Olympiads. Private contributions raised the funds for two berths on the Arab World space ship Nasser. Given the team's lack of opportunity for low-g training, they were not expected to contend for any medals but the rest of the world was pleased to see them participating once more. United States in "Must and Shall" The United States survived the Great Rebellion of 1861-1865, and the Southern Confederate states were kept in the Union. However, the United States government imposed a harsh and repressive peace upon the rebellious states. In 1942, the federal government stopped a Nazi-backed uprising. Many of the freedoms the Loyal States took for granted were denied the Southern states. United States in "News From the Front" The United States was sharply divided after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Almost immediately, the American press unleashed a continual stream of criticism of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's handling of World War II, often releasing strategic secrets in their efforts to demonstrate the president's incompetence. As his poll numbers fell, Roosevelt's position grew more vulnerable, and his honesty was called into question. By June, 1942, Roosevelt was on the verge becoming the second president ever to be impeached. United States in Southern Victory era US flag with 34 stars representing each of the nation's 34 states. See: Inconsistencies in Turtledove's Work.]] 1861-1881 Foreign In 1861, under President Abraham Lincoln, the United States became involved in a civil war when eleven slaveholding Southern states attempted to secede from the Union and form the Confederate States of America. A year and a half of warfare (what became known as the War of Secession) followed. In September 1862, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee defeated and destroyed US General George McClellan's Army of the Potomac at Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, then advanced on Philadelphia. President Lincoln, feeling the cause was lost and under pressure from Britain, signed a treaty recognizing the CSA's sovereignty. Domestic Lincoln was voted out of office in 1864, and the Democratic Party won the next four Presidential elections. The Democrats, who before the war had favored Southern interests in the Federal government, took a soft line against the CS, and for the first twenty years that nation--and its ability to threaten the US--grew. It purchased Cuba from Spain in the 1870s. 1881-1914 . The abandonment of Washington, DC under threat of Confederate artillery became symbolic of the deprivations which the United States was forced to endure from the War of Secession to the Great War.]] In 1880, American voters, tired of the Democrats' soft line, elected Republican James G. Blaine President. In Blaine's first year in office, his Confederate counterpart, James Longstreet, purchased the states of Chihuahua and Sonora from Mexico, making the CS a transcontinental power by giving it access to the Pacific port city of Guaymas. Blaine felt he could not tolerate this expansion, and went to war with the CS. The CS was supported by Britain and France. The US Army was disorganized and woefully underprepared for the war, and was easily defeated. The CS graciously offered the US status quo antebellum in everything but recognition of the Confederate claim to the two Mexican states. Britain, however, took half the state of Maine as a territorial concession and annexed it to the Dominion of Canada. Foreign Following the war, the German military observer to the United States, Alfred von Schlieffen, recommended sweeping reorganizations to the US military to US General-in-Chief William Rosecrans. The military took these suggestions to heart, and Schleiffen, realizing the US's wealth of resources and antagonistic relationship with France could make it a potentially valuable ally, became along with German ambasador to the US Kurd von Schlozer, a voice in Berlin in favor of a US-German alliance--what ultimately became the Central Powers after German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck offered such an alliance to the US and the US accepted. (The alliance also included Austria-Hungary. For their part, the CS joined Britain, France, and Russia in forming the Entente.) The two alliance systems maneuvered in many cooperative diplomatic efforts, each trying to extend its own alliances at the expense of its rival's. Domestic Over the next thirty years, Democrats dominated American politics, but with a much more nationalistic slant. The Republican Party, on the heels of the failures of both Lincoln and Blaine, had become largely defunct, and was soon eclipsed by the upstart Socialist Party as the Democrats' primary opposition. The Democratic ideology was the U.S Nationalism known as "Remembrance." The US took to heart Schleiffen's suggestions for a military reorganization, replacing the position of General-in-Chief, which had limited supervision over largely autonomous field armies, with the centralized United States General Staff. However, the reforms did not stop there; all of US society was reorganized. Government became more bureacratic, life more regulated. Under hard-line presidents like Thomas Brackett Reed (1897-1902) and Alfred Thayer Mahan (1889-1897), every facet of the country was fine-tuned to be able to support a war effort against the Entente. (It was during Reed's administration that a mutual defense pact was signed with Haiti, perceived as a rather aggressive mood, and that the US threatened war with the CS if it attempted to dig a canal through the Isthmus of Nicaragua.) That war came in 1914 when Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo. Alliance systems were invoked, and war spread across Europe--and North America. The Great War had begun. 1914-1917 Foreign meets with German Kaiser Wilhelm II. By the turn of the century, strong leadership at home and the growing Quadruple Alliance system had begun to restore the United States to a position of international and military prestige.]]Unlike in its previous two wars against the CS, the US did not allow its enemy to make early gains in the Great War, vigorously contesting the Confederate advance through Washington DC, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The US invaded both the CS and the Dominion of Canada and held the line against both through several years of hard fighting on stationary fronts, also mounting a naval conquest of the British Sandwich Islands in the opening weeks of the war. US scientists and engineers, cooperating with their German counterparts, produced many new weapons and innovations, including poison gas and barrels, though these two were quickly aped by the US's enemies. The US supported the Red Rebellion in the Confederacy in 1915, forcing the CS to take men off the line to suppress the rebellion--though the US was forced to do the same to contain the perenially rebellious Mormons. In 1916, US superiority in numbers and resources began to tell, and they were able to push their enemies back. They made significant inroads into the Canadian province of Quebec, and President Theodore Roosevelt decided to take advantage of Quebecois disaffection with their Anglophone neighbors stemming from religious and linguistic differences and create the Republic of Quebec. Finally, in 1917, the US achieved a breakthrough. The first came in Tennessee, where General George Armstrong Custer ordered the Barrel Roll Offensive, in violation of General Staff doctrine. After that, Confederate armies collapsed throughout the country, and soon British and Canadian armies did, too. At the cost of 1.5 million KIA, the US had at long last achieved its great victory. Domestic The gains the US made on the war front secured re-election for Roosevelt. 1917-1941 Foreign With an eye toward preventing the Entente from threatening the US again in the future, Roosevelt forced the defeated British to yield all claim to Canada and allow it to be occupied by US forces. He also demanded large indemnities and severe arms restrictions from the CS and the concession of the states of Kentucky, Sequoyah, and Houston. He placed the state of Utah under martial law. '' was the world's first aircraft carrier. However, the U.S. Navy forfeited its lead over other navies in the development of this and other innovations in response to Socialist Party budget cuts.]]Throughout this period, the US had paid less attention to the defeated CS. Sinclair had forgiven the war indemnities after the assassination of Wade Hampton V, and the US stopped sending weapons inspectors to enforce compliance with the arms restrictions shortly thereafter. During the Mexican Civil War, the U.S. provided tepid support for the Popular Revolutionaries against Maximilian III. The up-and-coming Freedom Party of the C.S., on the other hand, sent volunteers to keep Maximilian on the throne. The U.S. continued to make military matters a lower priority into the 1920s and 1930s. This was reversed to an extent under Hosea Blackford with the outbreak of the Pacific War. While it couldn't save Blackford's bid for re-election in 1932, his Democrat successor, Herbert Hoover did bring the Pacific War to a close. However, Hoover continued the country's impotency in the face of C.S. aggression. When Jake Featherston of the Freedom Party, he asked for a loosening of restrictions on arms in the face of ongoing "black unrest". Hoover, having no use for radical elements, accepted Featherston's claims, and granted his request. Featherston encouraged civil unrest among former Confederates in Kentucky, Houston, and, to a lesser extent, Sequoyah, and also supported insurgents in Utah. In 1937, Hoover's successor Smith ended martial law in Utah as an attempt to appease the latter group. In 1940, Smith met with Featherston in Richmond to discuss a solution for the three former Confederate states. Featherston clearly got the better of Smith at this meeting, convincing the US President to agree to plebiscites in the three states and agreeing that, whichever country won, the states would remain demilitarized for twenty-five years--a promise he had no intention of keeping. Through Freedomite intimidation tactics, the US lost the plebiscites in Kentucky and Houston, and Featherston immediately stationed troops in these states upon retaking possession of them. Featherston then issued an ultimatum claiming the US had fixed the Sequoyah plebiscite and demanding the return of that state as well as several other small territorial concessions made at the end of the Great War. The US refused and was invaded on June 22, 1941 when Featherston launched Operation Blackbeard without issuing a formal declaration of war. Domestic With the long-sought after victory attained, Americans began looking more toward domestic policies than foreign. (One unfortunate manifestation of this shift in public opinion was that the US backed down from its protest of Turkey's genocide against the Armenians when Germany supported Turkey.) The years immediately following the Great War were marked by severe labor unrest, and in 1920, when Roosevelt ran for re-election to an unprecedented third term, he lost to Socialist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair's first term was a time of peace and prosperity for the US, and he was re-elected in 1924. The good times continued through his second term. However, in 1928, Sinclair's Vice President, Hosea Blackford, was elected (having defeated the once-popular Roosevelt, Sinclair was wary of violating the two-term precedent) and within a year the stock markect collapsed and the US economy plumetted. The Blackford Administration was further embattled when Japan attacked the US, beginning the Pacific War. Though the war was a draw and was not particularly costly for the US, the Japanese managed to raid Los Angeles while Blackford was appearing there at a campaign function. Blackford was defeated in 1932 by Calvin Coolidge, who died before taking office; his term was served by Herbert Hoover. Hoover fared no better than Blackford in sparking economic recovery (though he did manage to conclude the Pacific War), and was himself defeated by Socialist Al Smith in 1936. 1941-1943 Foreign The US was unprepared for the Confederate invasion and was driven back quickly in the first months of the war. Confederate forces took Sandusky, Ohio, on Lake Erie and neatly bisected the US, cutting every transcontinental supply line not involving Canada. The front stabilized when the Confederates reached Sandusky, and the US launched a counterattack in Virginia; however, the Confederates very effectively ground this assault to a halt north of Fredericksburg. US commander Daniel MacArthur launced two ill-advised assaults on that city known as the Battles of Fredericksburg. After the second such assault, the Virginia front essentiallly became a stalemate. Early in 1942, President Smith was killed in an air raid on Philadelphia. Charles W. La Follette became President. The US sent supporting columns to open secondary fronts all along the border to counteract the Confederate advantage of interior lines of communication. This was effective in severely taxing CS Army personnel, but the Confederate column in Ohio launched Operation Coalscuttle into Pennsylvania late in 1942. The army pushed the US back into Pittsburgh, where it was destroyed in an enormous months-long battle. Following the destruction of the Army of Kentucky, US General Irving Morrell followed up with a campaign to liberate Ohio and push through Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia, with his ultimate objective being Atlanta. By the fall of 1943, his forces had nearly reached that city. Their fighter-bombers had gained air superiority over the Confederates, their paratroopers were threatening the flanks and rears of Confederate positions, and their barrels were superior to the enemy's. Also in that year, the US Eleventh Army under General Abner Dowling retook Houston and took Camp Determination in Texas. The U.S. Navy won a decisive victory over the British in the Battle of the North Atlantic and retook Bermuda. Japan disengaged from US forces and attacked Britain's Asian colonies. However, Philadelphia came under fire from Confederate rockets that fall. The US supported guerrilla fighters within the CS recruited from among the black population, which was the target of a genocide by the racist Featherston. The CS supported yet another Mormon rebellion in Utah, and Britain--still a nominal enemy despite both the Entente and the Central Powers being much looser in terms of intercontinental cooperation than was true in the Great War--supported a Canadian uprising. In 1942, that uprising expelled a Quebecois garrison from the city of Winnipeg. The US was also engaged in a war against Japan; it defended the Sandwich Islands, a Great War territorial gain, against that nation and retook Midway and Wake Island. This war ended in 1943. In Hanford, Washington, US physicists began a top-secret project to build a superbomb. 1944 Foreign Unfortunately, despite the military gains the country had made, plunging into the Confederacy, the CS was able to deploy the new superbomb first, destroying a sizeable portion of downtown Philadelphia. In response, the US destroyed Newport News in a failed attempt to kill Jake Featherston. In addition, the US destroyed Charleston, South Carolina. Featherston fled further into the CS, but was ultimately killed. With his death, the CS surrendered. The US Army quickly occupied all CS territory from coast to coast, and settled into what was believed to be a long occupation, as die-hard Freedomites continued to resist the US, and US forces routinely responded with bloody retribution. At the same time, the US, now fully aware of the Population Reduction perpetrated against Confederate blacks, began punishing the government officials who'd carried out the killings, while at the same time trying to force some equality upon the population. Domestic On the home front, despite the US's ulimate victory, Charles La Follette lost his bid for re-election to Democrat Thomas Dewey. Dewey's stated goal was to complete the reintegration of the former Confederacy into the US, making North America whole again. On the world stage, Dewey announced plans to continue the country's partnership with Germany to police the world and prevent the spread of superbomb technology. United States in The Guns of the South In 1861, under President Abraham Lincoln, the United States became involved in a civil war when eleven slaveholding Southern states opted to secede from the Union and form the Confederate States of America. Four years of warfare (what became known as the Second American Revolution) followed. In 1864, the Confederacy's chances of victory were diminishing in the face several critical military defeats and the vast difference in industrial and human resources that favored the U.S. However, through the actions of a group of time-travelering members of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, a racist South African organization, the South was saved. The Rivingon men (as they came to be called) supplied Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia with AK-47 automatic rifles. These futuristic weapons more than made up for the Confederacy's lack of resources. After several weeks of training, the Army of Northern Virginia engaged the Federal military at Bealeton, Virginia. The Federals were completely surprised by the new "repeaters", and quickly collapsed. In a news paper article of the time in the short battles in the Wilderness the federals suffered 40,000 losses. The ANV pressed on to Washington City, where President Abraham Lincoln had remained despite the encroaching enemy. When Lee and his army arrived, Lincoln invited the rebel commander into the White House to negotiate an armistice, ending major combat of the Second American Revolution. The United States licked its wounds. Lincoln was voted out of office, although he was able to secure reasonably good terms for peace. One conflict was the status of Kentucky and Missouri, two slave-states. Under a compromise, both were allowed to decide which country they would join in a plebiscite. Missouri remained part of the United States, while Kentucky joined the Confederate States. The United States was able reverse engineer AK-47s captured from Confederate troops. These guns were put into mass production. Although not quite as reliable as the Confederate models, the guns were nonetheless successful. By 1867, the United States had launched a war with Britain and an invasion of Canada. No one in the U.S. ever learned the true origin of the AK-47. United States in "The Last Article" The United States had remained neutral during World War II. This allowed the Germans to overrun all of Europe and the Japanese to run wild in Asia. By 1947, the Americans had realised their error of non-interference and were backing the Free French in Africa against the Nazi backed Vichy French. The Germans had also warned the Americans not to interfere with the Japanese empire in the Pacific. Everyone believed that one day soon, the United States would be the next target of both the Germans and the Japanese. United States in The Man With the Iron Heart The United States had entered World War II unwillingly, but had soon proven equal to the task. By May, 1945, Germany had fallen to combined American British, French and Soviet forces. Harry Truman had been suddenly thrust into the presidency when Franklin D. Roosevelt died in April, 1945. Truman was faced several difficult decisions. While the European theater of World War II was winding down, Japan had signalled its intention to fight to the bitter end. In actuality, the war in Europe erupted again almost immediately, as the German Freedom Front, under the leadership of Reinhard Heydrich, launched a resistance movement against the Allied forces occupying the country. The casualties inflicted against American troops began to wear away at public support for the occupation. While Germany continued to simmer, the war against Japan continued at full boil. Shortly after taking office, Truman was informed of the development of the atomic bomb. Fearing the loss of life that could arise from the invasion of the Japanese home islands, Truman ordered the deployment of a bomb against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively in August, 1945. Japan immediately surrendered. However, Germany was quietly deteriorating. Nearly 1000 American soldiers had been killed since the war officially ended (including General George Patton), and the U.S. Army seemed unable to stop the GFF. The mother of one of those killed, Diana McGraw, gathered together other people who'd lost loved ones, and began protesting the Truman Administration. December, 1945 proved to be a most difficult period for the country. The GFF destroyed the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg just as various Nazi officials were to go on trial for war crimes, and then issued a film featuring kidnapped private Matthew Cunningham pleading for the withdrawal of troops in exchange for his life. That film leaked to the American press by Tom Schmidt, a reporter in Germany. Dian McGraw's Mothers Against the Madness in Germany protested outside the White House. Her group was joined by various legislators, both Republicans and Democrats. Witnessing the protest, Truman himself approached McGraw, and argued the threat that both the Nazis and the Soviet Union (America's former ally) posed to the peace. Unfortunately for him, Truman took far too condescending a tone, which helped shore up McGraw's own self-assurance that the lives lost were too a high a price. Nor could he dislodge her belief that the atomic bomb would be easily deployed should either Germany or the USSR become a threat. Truman continued this line of argument publically throughout 1946. He dismissed the notion that McGraw's view was gaining momentum with the American people, and waived off the possibility that the Republicans would ride the issue to Congressional victory in the fall. He also asserted that foreign policy was set by the executive, and so scoffed angrily at the idea that Republican Congress could (much less would) order the troops home. In 1946, American troops very nearly had their hands on Heydrich after the guerrilla leader personally oversaw the kidnapping of a group of German physicists from British custody. Tom Schmidt, now working for the Chicago Tribune, grew ever more critical of the Administration, dispensing with much civility. With the actual war over, American policy now grew frosty to its allies, especially the Soviet Union, although this applied to France as well. Despite warnings from CIC officer Lou Weissberg, French authorities did not heed warnings that the German town of Hechingen would be a GFF target. The GFF was able to collected a quantity of radium that had been abandoned by the German scientists, and detonated it as part of a bomb in the American compound in Frankfurt. This attack came just as the Allies were making their second attempt to try German war criminals. With these events as a spring-board, the Republicans were able to take back the House and the Senate in November, 1946. In the meantime, America's allies Britain and France were subjected to attacks by the GFF on their home soil. While Truman issued statements of solidarity, it did nothing to change the American voters' minds. The ascension of the Republicans emboldened American troops abroad. By January, 1947, draftees were actively protesting in the streets of occupied Germany, demanding to go home. By February, 1947, Truman and Congress had already butted heads. Truman vetoed a budget that cut off funding for the occupation by the end of the year. While Congress did not have the votes to override the veto, this was at best a small victory for Truman, as Congress simply provided no funding to the occupation. Soon, the military began withdrawing troops for lack of funds. On July 4, 1947, Indianapolis City Councilman Gus van Slyke was assassinated at an anti-occupation rally. Within hours, Republican Congressman Everett Dirksen had whipped a protest rally in Washington, DC into a frenzy with the news. The crowd did not committ any acts of violence, although Tom Schmidt, who was covering the crowd, feared that it might storm the White House. The U.S. suffered another set back days later when the GFF once again prevented the trials of several prominent Nazi leaders. This time, the trials were to be held in Berlin, and managed by the Soviet Union. However, a GFF Werewolf seized an American C-47 and crashed it into the courthouse. However, this event gave the USSR a black-eye, and inspired a new sense of cooperation. The NKVD turned over a DP named Shmuel Birnbaum, who'd been one of the slave-laborers who built Heydrich's hideout, to U.S. Army Howard Frank and Lou Weissberg. Reinhard Heydrich was finally located and killed, although the Administration's critics saw this as even greater reason to pull out troops, while Truman worried that killing Heydrich wasn't really the death of the GFF. This fear proved correct as Joachim Peiper soon picked up where Heydrich left off, launching a series of commericial airline hijackings. In 1948, most of the United States troops in Germany had returned home, and the country hoped democracy and the atomic bomb would be enough to keep Germany in line. United States in The Two Georges See North American Union United States in The War That Came Early The United States maintained a policy of isolation and neutrality when a wider European war began over Czechoslovakia in 1938. However, individual Americans had flocked to the Spanish Republican banner in 1936 with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. The United States did take further steps to protect its interests in China during the Japanese invasion and occupation that began in 1937. However, as long as the Japanese directed their aggression at the Chinese, the US continued to supply Japan with oil and scrap metal, in effect tacitly supporting the Japanese war effort. Americans on the ground in China were not universally happy with this policy. After the sinking of the [[USS Panay#USS Panay in The War That Came Early|USS Panay]] in 1937, tensions between the countries were higher than normal. However, the Japanese confounded U.S. expectations by launching a war against the Soviet Union and an invasion of Siberia. In 1939, the German submarine U-30 accidentally sank the American ship SS Athenia. The German government denied responsibility, and shifted the blame to Britain. The U.S. government did not at that point see the sinking of the Athenia as a grounds for declaring war (unlike its reaction to the sinking of the Lusitania in the First World War). The U.S. maintained its neutrality throughout the remainder of 1939, although it did begin rearming that year in earnest.West and East, pg. 99. It also began supporting the war efforts of Britain and France. The Big Switch, pg. 334.In the closing months of 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed to broker an end to the fighting by returning the borders of Europe to the status quo ante bellum. His offer was rebuffed by Adolf Hitler.West and East, pg. 358. Throughout 1940, the USA remained neutral. For the first half of the year, the U.S. continued its policy of aiding the Western Allies. However, in mid-1940, Britain and France made peace with Germany and joined Germany its war against the Soviet Union.Ibid., pg. 238. In response, Roosevelt, who was running for an unprecedented third term, at speech in October, 1940 that the U.S. would no longer ship arms to Britain and France, and would additionally stop shipping scrap metal and oil to Japan until Japan left China.Ibid., pgs. 336-338. Roosevelt won re-electon weeks later.Ibid., pgs. 345-346. While it apppeared the United States had a brief reprieve from the war, on January 12, 1941, Japanese forces attacked United States possessions, including the Philippines and Hawaii.Ibid., pg. 396. The next day, Roosevelt asked for, and received, a declaration of war.Ibid., pg. 402. United States in "Vilcabamba" When the Krolp attacked Earth in the latter half of the 21st century, the United States lost much of its territory. It merged with Canada in an effort to pool resources and fight off the alien invaders. This plan failed, and the two countries were reduced to rump states along the Rocky Mountains, governed from Grand Junction, Colorado. U.S. President Harris Moffatt II negotiated the borders the country with Flargar, the Krolp governor of North America. Generations later, during the presidency of Harris Moffatt III, the Krolp discovered vast silver deposits in Utah, in U.S. territory. Knowing that Krolp mining technology would leave even the rump U.S. uninhabitable, Moffatt decided to fight rather than allow the Krolp access. War did not begin immediately, however. Moffatt had plenty of opportunity to flee to Craig, Colorado, and initiate Plan Seventeen. While monitoring Krolp channels, Moffatt and his Defense Department learned that the Krolp Subgovernor of the South Central Region was taken to the hospital with an unknown illness (implicitly poisoned by one of the sympathetic humans in his staff). This soon spread to other Krolp officials and loyal humans, sometimes with fatal results. A Krolpish flyer went down, with more Krolp dead and injured. Bridges and overpasses also collapsed within Krolp territory. In response, the Krolp began marching on the Rockies and Wasatch Range. Most of the USA's military power was centered around northeastern Utah, as a further deterent. After two days, the Krolp began to respond in earnest, after Govenror Vrank survived an assassination attempt. Grand Junction was destroyed. Almost immediately, Moffatt and his advisors moved further north, anticipating Craig would follow Grand Junction. By the third day, it was over; Krolpish forces earnestly began their drive into Utah, effectively routing all opposition, and mining shortly after taking the area. U.S. forces were overwhelmed and began surrendering in mass. Moffat was captured and forced into exile, the U.S. was defeated and ceased to exist, and the Krolp got their silver. United States in Worldwar 1942-1945 On December 7, 1941, Japanese forces attacked the United States base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, drawing the US into World War II on the side of the Allies. Less than six months later, the Race's Conquest Fleet invaded Earth, and that war was abandoned as every human nation was thrown into a fight for its survival. by building atomic bombs in the nick of time]] The US military fared badly in the first year of the war, with Race forces taking pockets of territory throughout the Midwest and the destruction of its capital, Washington, DC by one of the Race's nuclear missiles. In the winter of 1942-43, however, US generals George Patton and Omar Bradley, taking advantage of the Race's low tolerance for cold temperatures, launched a counterattack during a snowstorm that prevented the Race from taking the city of Chicago. The US became a participant in the Big Five cobelligerency along with Germany, Japan, Britain and the Soviet Union. It benefited from technology exchanges among the group, and received a sample of radioactive plutonium from the Polish Jew Mordechai Anielewicz. The US completed an atomic bomb in late 1943 and destroyed the city of Chicago, which the Race was on the verge of taking. It also destroyed the Race-held city of Miami. The Race retaliated by destroying Seattle and Pearl Harbor; Vice President Henry Wallace was killed in the former. President Franklin D. Roosvelt died in 1944 and was succeeded by Secretary of State Cordell Hull. It was Hull who accepted the Race's invitation to be part of the Peace of Cairo and sent his Secretary of State, General George Marshall, to represent US interests at the conference. Along with its Big Five cobelligerents, the US was among the first political entity to force an authority of the Ssumaz dynasty to treat with it on equal terms in more than fifty thousand years. 1945-1962 Peace prevailed on Earth, however unsteadily, and the US, like Germany and the Soviet Union (and Japan and Britain to a much lesser extent) took advantage of this peace to build up its technological arsenal. The US built nuclear missiles, computers, created its own Internet, and became a space-faring government: It maintained a space station in Earth orbit, flew regular orbital flights, and visited the Moon and Mars. 1962-1966 's attack on the Colonization Fleet and its aftermath would become the most controversial decision in American history]]In 1962 the Race's Colonization Fleet arrived in Earth orbit. It was attacked by the nuclear missiles of an unknown party, and twelve of its starships were destroyed. The attack had been ordered by none other than US President Earl Warren, but this would not come to light until 1966. In 1963 the US completed the Lewis and Clark, a space vessel which it sent to the asteroid belt. This was the first spaceship of human build to use an atomic engine and was considered a forerunner of a starship with interstellar capability. The US allowed the Race to set up shrines to the spirits of emperors past within its territory, making it unique among the human powers. The US believed it could not bar the shrines under the Free Exercise clause of its Constitution. The Race's cult of emperor-worship was adopted by some Americans, mainly Californians. The US remained neutral in the war between Germany and the Race, but Warren took note of the destruction to which Germany was subjected. U.S. offers to broker a peace were rejected. In 1966, Straha, an exiled Conquest Fleet shiplord who had defected to the US in 1944, brought incriminating evidence of US involvement in the Colonization Fleet episode provided to him by his friend, Sam Yeager, to the attention of Atvar Atvar presented the US with three choices: allow the Race to destroy an American city; discontinue its space program; or go to war. Warren knew that, even with Soviet help, the US could not win a war, and also knew that the dismantling of the space program would be an unacceptable setback. Warren therefore allowed the Race to destroy Indianapolis, then committed suicide and was succeeded by his Vice President, Harold Stassen. 1966-2031 As ginger use became widespread among the Colonization Fleet's females, causing them to become sexually receptive all the time, many who frequently mated with male friends became interested in entering into exclusive mating arrangements, or marriages. As the Race considered monogamy the height of perversion, these couples were not welcome in their own government's territory. The United States accepted many monogamous Lizards as defectors, thus deepening their own talent pool and simultaneously depleting the Race's. In the late 1970s the US began experimenting with cold sleep technology. A number of people it considered useful (and, not coincidentally, troublesome) such as Sam Yeager and Glenn Johnson were put into suspended animation in preparation for an interstellar journey to Home at sublight speeds. The US launched its starship, the Admiral Peary, in 1997. It arrived in Home orbit in 2031, the first starship not of Race manufacture to visit Home in that planet's history. '' was the first non-Race spacecraft to enter the Tau Ceti system in known history]]The Admiral Peary was sent with the primary mission of establishing an embassy on Home. It had originally intended for Dr. Henry Kissinger to be diplomatic chief of mission, but he failed to awaken from cold sleep and Sam Yeager became ambassador. Yeager and his team dealt primarily with Atvar, Race psychologist Ttomalss, and Tosevite citizen of the Empire Kassquit. Yeager was also granted an audience with the 37th Emperor Risson, making him the first ambassador to be received by a Ssumaz emperor since the unification of Home. Despite a willingness to negotiate in good faith by both parties, the Race could not accept the threat presented to it by the US's presence in the Tau Ceti system. The tone of the negotiations steadily deteriorated over a period of several months, and war seemed increasingly likely. Then the FTL ship Commodore Perry arrived in Home orbit, a clear sign that the United States had surpassed the slow-moving Race technologically--thus giving the US the very real option of destroying the Race's entire empire if the Race attempted to destroy the United States and Earth. Under an unprecedented threat, the Race sought to reach a peaceful understanding with the US. 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